Science: Pituitary Master

Above and behind the mouth cavity, tucked into a cradle of bone at the
base of the human brain, lies a reddish nugget of tissue, no bigger
than a big pea in normal adultsthe pituitary gland. Galen, the
famed physician of antiquity, and Vesalius, the great anatomist of the
Renaissance, knew it. They thought it gave saliva. In 1783 an
Irishman named Charles O'Brien died at the age of 22. He was 8 ft.
4 in. tall. A curious physician bought his body for $2,500, dissected
the head, found a pituitary gland...